How to Cap Beer Bottles

Brewing beer at home has become popular among beer enthusiasts. The process involves brewing and fermenting the beer, bottling the beer and capping the bottles. Home brewers prefer single-use crown caps because they seal in the carbonation better. Proper bottling and capping will ensure delicious, carbonated and germfree beer. You can find all the supplies you need at beer supply stores and websites.

Skill level:

Easy

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Things you need

Beer bottles

Metal crown bottle caps

Metal saucepan

Metal tongs

Bottle capper

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Instructions

1

Sanitise the metal tongs and bottle capper for 20 minutes in a mild bleach solution made with one tablespoon of bleach to one gallon of water. You can also find no-rinse sanitisers at home-brewing supply retailers. After sanitising, rinse the items to remove any chlorine residue that could affect the taste of the beer.

2

Sanitise the bottle caps in a clean saucepan of boiling water for five minutes. Sanitise a few extra caps in case you make some mistakes. While the caps are boiling, fill your bottles with beer.

3

Place a cap on your first bottle using the metal tongs--do this on a flat surface. Make sure the cap is centred. For efficiency, many brewers will place the caps on all the bottles before sealing each one.

4

Align the bottle and cap under the bottle capper and press down firmly on the levers with both hands until the cap is tightly fixed to the bottle. Push the levers up to release the bottle from the bottle capper.

5

Check each cap to make sure you have formed an airtight seal. If the cap is loose, repeat the process with one of the extra sanitised caps.

Tips and warnings

Store beer bottles in a cool, dry place for two weeks before refrigerating and drinking.

Keep a swift but controlled pace through the process to minimise the amount of time the beer solution is exposed to the air before capping.